GEORGE TOWN: Penang is setting up its own Penang Housing Board (PHB), modelled after the successful Singapore Housing Development Board (HDB) and Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) in a long term bid to streamline the development of housing and plan more affordable housing in the state.

While the housing boards in Singapore and Hong Kong, both islands, were set up in 1960 and 1973 respectively, Penang is belatedly starting the ball rolling and hopes to build up its expertise and gather momentum over the years.

The state government is expected to table a motion at the legislative assembly sitting on Monday for the PHB to be set up as a statutory body.

With land for development in short supply on the island, affordable housing has been a scarce commodity. Developers, especially the major players, have preferred to focus on luxury homes and super condominiums to leverage on the high land costs.

The proposed housing board is envisaged to deal with all issues relating to government housing and also play an active role in private housing.

State housing committee chairman Wong Hon Wai told The Edge Financial Daily that currently the state housing department was under the purview of the State Secretary's office.

“Due to the constant change in the civil service where officers come and go, the state government feels there should be a dedicated unit to oversee housing activities in the state.

“The current setup has a limited role and is only maintaining public housing schemes while the private housing sector is managed by the respective building management establishments.

“Once you have a housing board, it can play a prominent and collective role.

“We are looking at Singapore and Hong Kong which have dedicated statutory bodies with dedicated officers managing their housing boards.

“We hope to emulate them and to build up our expertise over the years with a similar model to oversee public housing as well as monitor the private housing sector.

“Under the federal constitution, housing comes under the common list [of federal and state jurisdictions] where state governments have the jurisdiction and power to set up a special body for housing.

“We need to have a dedicated statutory body with the power and jurisdiction especially for affordable housing.

“The board can introduce policies not only as a managing body for the public housing but as a policy making entity to fulfil the needs for housing and also to enforce policies for more affordable housing.

“The board will be the vehicle for us to jumpstart the process for more affordable housing in the state,” Wong added.
It is not immediately known how many employees would be deployed to manage the PHB.

The Singapore HDB is said to have over 4,000 employees while the HKHA is said to have double the number of staff.

Singapore HDB was set up 50 years ago, on Feb 1, 1960, during a housing crisis.

At that time, many were said to be living in unhygienic slums and crowded squatter settlements with only 9% of Singaporeans living in government flats.

Taking over from its predecessor, the Singapore Improvement Trust, HDB was tasked with solving the nation's housing crisis.
HDB built 21,000 flats in less than three years and by 1965, it had built 54,000 flats. Within 10 years of its formation, the housing problem had been resolved.

HDB built cohesive communities within its towns with living environments provided including community spaces for residents.

Today, about 84% of Singaporeans are said to live in HDB flats. The latest rejuvenation programme undertaken is a 20- to 30-year plan to transform the HDB estates and towns into a world class living environment.

The HKHA on its part is the main provider of public housing in Hong Kong.

It was established in 1973 under the Housing Ordinance and is an agency of the government of Hong Kong. In the same year, the Resettlement Department and the Building Section of the Urban Services Department were merged to form the Housing Department, which acts as the Housing Authority's executive body.

Aside from public housing, the HKHA is also responsible for the management of public rental housing estates, interim housing estates, transit centres, flatted factories and ancillary commercial and non-domestic facilities such as shopping centres, market stalls and car parks.

It also acts as the agent for the government when it comes to clearing land.

Hopefully, with a sole agency in charge of public housing, it will enable the state government to undertake more effective resource planning especially for affordable housing in the state.

With Penang being ranked on par with Kuala Lumpur as the eighth most livable city in Asia, the state government has expressed its wish to see more affordable housing for the middle income group.

To encourage developers to build more affordable housing, the state government has announced that it is reviewing the various charges imposed for projects with houses priced below either RM350,000 or RM300,000 for the island and either RM250,000 or RM220,000 for the houses on the mainland.

All this should augur well for both developers and the public. It is timely for the state government to regulate the housing sector and work via its agencies like the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) to build more affordable housing in the state instead of leaving the task to private developers.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, October 29, 2010.

SOURCE: The Edge Property

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara is expected to announce next week measures to curb property speculation and a programme to create financial awareness for the youth, said sources.

The introduction of a loan to value requirement for people buying their third house or more has been talked about, but central bank governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said any new rules regarding property loans would not be a blanket clamp.

“We want to promote house ownership but we want it to be done in an orderly manner and we don’t want speculative activity,’’ she said after a media engagement programme at the Global Islamic Finance Forum.

“So, for first time house owners and perhaps even the second one, any new rules will not apply.’’

Zeti acknowledged there were pockets of property bubbles in the country, but on the whole, steep property rises were not seen throughout the country.

“If we consider there is any imminent risk of a property bubble, of course we will take pre-emptive action. We are not going to wait for the bubble to happen before taking action,’’ she said.

Debate over the implementation of a loan to value ratio has been ongoing and the understanding is that people buying their third house or more would be required to pay a larger downpayment than the current standard minimum of 10% of the value of a home.

On Wednesday, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai told parliament Bank Negara was studying possible policy changes for those taking up loans to buy a third house or more.

He also said prices of properties in several locations in large cities in the country had shot up due to speculation and if the situation was not controlled at an early stage, home prices would go up beyond the consumer’s financial means and may affect socio-economic growth.

Lim said people would also face difficulty in buying houses, which might lead to an increase in debts.

“The loan-to-value ratio will be specific in nature and its implications on the country’s economic growth will be taken into account,” he added.

Zeti said the banking system through its own risk management and governance process was addressing rising property prices and Bank Negara had other pre-emptive areas it might take up.

One example she gave was on financial literacy and management especially for the younger population below the age of 30.

“We want them to be better positioned to manage their finances when they acquire a car and a house in the beginning of the career,’’ she said, adding that the central bank would introduce programmes for those purposes and was ready to deal with any excesses through a wide range of instruments.

Commenting on the mega Islamic banking licences which Bank Negara would issue by the end of the year, Zeti said two parties had been issued conditional licences but expected one of them to be given a full licence by the end of the year after agreeing to the terms set out by Bank Negara.

“We believe the kind of team they have proposed to bring in will contribute significantly to the development and deepening of the market in terms of product development, structuring of Islamic instruments, expertise and participation in the various financial markets including the foreign exchange market since most of their business will be international,’’ she said.

“This will contribute significantly to our financial system.”

The mega Islamic banks would have a paid-up capital of US$1bil each and Zeti said those banks would be the “final jigsaw (piece) to our financial system.”

She said the licences drew interest worldwide but presented challenges to prospective bidders based on the requirements placed by Bank Negara, not only on the capital needs but also in their proposed business plans and the team the licence holder would bring into Malaysia.

“There were two who have been identified and they are making preparations to meet in concrete terms what they have proposed to us. They will of course do some retail business but the focus will be international business as the objective of our liberalisation is to enhance linkages around the world,’’ she said.

SOURCE: The Star

PLENITUDE Bhd (5075) plans to launch several small-scale property projects worth as much as RM400 million over the next eight months.

The builder is taking advantage of a run-up in property prices to launch the seven residential projects that will cover areas in Klang Valley, Johor and Penang.

"These properties will be launched during this financial year (ending June 30 2011), and we expect positive contribution to the bottom line over the next few years," said executive chairman Elsie Chua after the company's extraordinary general meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The company is also planning to launch a big-scale project in Penang in two years' time, which has an estimated gross development value of RM230 million.
"The development will mainly comprise landed residential units, of course. There will be some condominiums as well," said Chua.

The company, which has more than RM75 million in cash as at June 30 2010, said it will use it as a warchest to fuel expansion, and as such, it has no immediate plans to return more cash to shareholders.

Plenitude currently has a policy of returning between 20 and25 per cent of net profits as dividend to shareholders.

"That's what the shareholders were asking for, but we need this cash because we know we want to expand. If we cash it out, instead of having our own cash, we start borrowing, then it's bad," said Chua.

Zukarnine Shah, a director, added that the deciding factor for not returning the cash as dividend is the company's sustainability.

"If we issue out as dividend, shareholders will be happy for sure, but can we sustain? Will we have enough working capital or reserves to acquire valuable land to expand? So, we are trying to keep a balance, but of course, balance is subjective," Zukarnine said.

Chua said its landbank, currently at about 720ha, can keep the company busy for the next 10 years.

SOURCE: Business Times

Executive chairman Hamidon Abdullah said he was bullish on next year's outlook, describing the market as buoyant.

Mutiara's new projects in Bandar Sunway, Kajang and Cyberjaya in Selangor and in Butterworth, Penang, are gated communities targeting the middle-to upper-income groups.

They are expected to appeal to buyers looking for a safe and secure environment.

"In my belief, properties are not being offered to the public in a wholesome manner. We have to create a community with proper amenities and landscaping. Then the products will move.
"I do not expect a bubble if we put decent properties in the market for people to live in rather than flip," Hamidon said yesterday in Kuala Lumpur after the company's shareholder meeting.

Mutiara is launching flagship project Nadayu 92 in Kajang, Nadayu 28 in Sunway, Nadayu 290 in Butterworth and an un named project in Cyberjaya.

Hamidon said Nadayu 92 is its attempt to deliver an affordable range in a gated environment and is optimistic of a good response.

Hillside development Nadayu 290 will feature three condo-minium blocks with more than 150 units and seven bungalows, worth more than RM400 million.

Nadayu 290 is touted to set a new benchmark for Penang where green technology is concerned.

"We are working with big international names to integrate green technology into the development. It will be a reference project for Penang, placing us on the map with the big boys," Hamidon said.

In the financial year ended April 30 2010, Mutiara posted RM3.2 million net profit on revenue of RM52.6 million.

SOURCE: Business Times

Bank Negara Malaysia is likely to pause rates again at its next meeting on Nov 12, says Senior Economist at AmResearch, Manokaran Mottain.

"With Bank Negara having frontloaded rate hikes in the earlier part of the year, we see greater flexibility in keeping to a neutral stance. In our opinion, there will be no more hikes over the next three to six months," he said in an economic update report today.

The central bank at its last meeting in September, held the overnight policy rate (OPR)steady at 2.75 per cent.

Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz had cautioned yesterday, that the central bank would not hesitate to intervene in the currency market, if movements in the ringgit became "disorderly".

The ringgit this morning, traded at 3.1000 against the US dollar compared to 3.0940 on Tuesday closing. Year-to-date, the local unit has strengthened nearly 10.5 per cent against the dollar, as investors pump cash into higher-yielding emerging market assets.

"More and more emerging countries are beginning to tighten the noose around speculative activities, as inflow of hot money can cause their currencies to appreciate beyond fundamentals, damaging competitiveness.

"We do not think Bank Negara will resort to any more capital controls, as it will certainly affect investor confidence, at a time when we are attempting to lure foreign direct investments," Manokaran added.

Instead of capital controls, Malaysia, he said, can strengthen the financial market and its reserves while adopting a firmer policy to deter speculative activities in the property market such as putting a cap on the third housing loan or tightening rules on foreigners purchasing residential properties.

This, he explained, can likely discourage the inflow of hot money and the creation of a bubble in certain asset classes.
"The central bank may have to consider unorthodox counter-cyclical measures, even if it means a rate cut," he said.

He highlighted that recent data showed inflation moderating to 1.8 per cent in September, from 2.1 per cent in August, and this further supported Bank Negara's flexibility in containing any asset bubble in the system. — Bernama


SOURCE: Business Times